Iris
by lovematters
Summary: Gaara's always been hated. He's always been ashamed. But when one little green eyed girl has the courage to not runaway, she will have a lasting, unintentional effect.


_Some people make the sky more beautiful to gaze upon.  
They stay in our lives for awhile, leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never ever the same.  
by Flavia Weedn_

* * *

Gaara stared at the pink haired girl, watching her with rapt attention as she swung higher and higher on the swing, giggling with joy as she kicked the ground to gain momentum.

He watched as a tall, benevolent-looking man approached the young girl, his arm around a slightly shorter, kind-faced woman at his side. They were both watched her with loving smiles as she giggled and waved at them, leaping off the swing and running towards them.

She leapt into the young man's arms, squealing with delight as his swung her around. He set her down on the ground, laughing raucously and she proceeded to fling her arms around the woman's waist, hugging her tightly.

Gaara stared longingly at the group. His father would never do that. His father hated him. Everyone hated him...

As the family began to walk away, he had the inexplicable urge to shout out; to ask them to come back; to beg them to love him the way they loved each other.

But he didn't. He never did. Every day he would watch them, and dream about what it would be like to be part of that family. To feel love...

He stared after at their retreating backs, a growing sadness filling him as they disappeared further into the distance.

* * *

They weren't there today. The two adults weren't there. He frowned as he saw the pink-haired girl tread over to her usual swing. But something wasn't right today. There was something wrong with her usual bubbly manner. It seemed to have been replaced with an inexplicable air of sadness.

His frown intensified as he saw her sit dejectedly on the swing, her head bowed. She didn't giggle. She didn't kick the ground and begin swinging. She just sat there. Suddenly he heard an odd noise, something that sounded strangely like... a sniffle. She was crying.

Gaara, deciding he would get a bit closer to see if she really was shedding tears, slipped out of his hiding place and edged towards her.

Suddenly, she looked up and stared around. Gaara froze as her eyes landed on him.

She would be scared.

She would run away.

She would leave him.

She smiled.

Her eyes were red and puffy, but she kept her soft, innocent smile, hastily wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Hello," she hiccupped, pushing one of her cerise locks away from her face.

Gaara breath caught in his throat as his gaze landed upon her eyes. They were a striking jade, sparkling with unshed tears, yet still somehow, full of life.

He felt like a deer caught in headlights. Her gaze was making him feel strange. He had never been looked at like that before.

"I..."

He fiddled with his hands, averting his eyes from her and staring ashamedly at his feet.

He heard the distinct sound of feet hitting pavement. She was leaving him. She was judging him.

"Don't go!"

He froze, shocked at the words that had come out of his mouth.

The footsteps stopped.

"I'm not going anywhere," said a confused voice from right in front of him.

He looked up slowly to see the jade-eyed girl standing in front of him, looking quite bemused.

"My name's Sakura," she said, sticking out her hand politely, despite the tears still evident in her eyes.

He stared in shock at the small hand in front of him. She wasn't running away...?

"Why are you crying?" he blurted out.

"Mummy and Daddy had an argument. They got very cross. They never get cross," she sniffled sadly, tears threatening to spill from her large orbs again.

"I'm sorry..." he said apologetically.

"You don't need to be sorry," she said sweetly, her hand still sticking out in front of her. Seeing that he was not going to take it, she began to bring it back to her side.

Gaara seeing this, caught it quickly in his own hand, not wanting to upset her. He stood there awkwardly, quite unsure of what he was supposed to do next.

Sakura giggled at his confusion, and said kindly "You're supposed to shake it, silly."

"Shake it...?" he asked "Why?"

Sakura frowned at him, a sudden quizzical look passing over her own face. "I... I'm not sure..." she admitted "It's what daddy always does..."

Her look of confidence reappearing, she lifted up her other hand and adjusted their grip. "Now shake."

He shook her hand quickly then let it go, staring awkwardly at her in silence.

"What's your name?" she probed.

"Gaara," he murmured shyly.

"Gaara..." she echoed thoughtfully "That's a nice name."

He blushed slightly at her compliment. He never got compliments.

"Want to be friends?" she asked.

"Me...?" he asked, completely stunned.

"Yes," she said brightly.

"I've never had a friend before," he confessed hesitantly.

"Well, I can be your friend," she said happily, giving him a sweet smile, and moving to grab his hand.

Just as she was about to grab hold of it however, a sudden wall of sand shot up, hitting her hand and making her cry out in pain.

"I'm so sorry!" exclaimed Gaara, panic evident in his tone "I-I didn't mean-"

"It's all right," she said gently "You're the one who has the demon, aren't you?"

He stared down at his feet, shame and guilt bubbling over as she uttered the words. She knew. She had guessed his secret. Now she would runaway.

"It's nothing to be ashamed off," she told him strictly, putting her hands on her hips "Daddy always says to never be ashamed of who you are, no matter what other people think."

He looked up in surprise, sea green eyes alight with hope "R-really?"

"Really," she repeated, smiling kindly at him.

* * *

**AN: I have recently taken a strong liking to this pairing, so you might see a new story from me sometime in the future about this couple. But anyway, I've wanted to do something like this for ages, and was looking at this fan art of them together, when the idea just popped into my head- Sorry, I've forgotten the name of the author and the picture and I can't find it again. Anyway, please review and thanks for reading!**


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